Was wondering if anyone has downloaded and used these drivers? Detonator
Drivers at Nvidia's site worth downloading? I have a Asus AGP-7700 GeForce
2 GTS 32mg. Thanks in advance.
My Geforce runs most reliable with the Asus 5.33a drivers. I have tried
higher versions, but experienced hangs with them, and GP3 fails to show
certain bitmaps on them.
This is in combination with an Asus A7V motherboard, Bios rev is 1007.
Bioses below 1005 gave me hangups. 1005+ seems to handle 4x AGP with fast
writes ok.
Bart Westra
I use the 6.50 nVIDEA drivers anyway, as they are better for everything I
run except GPL--I get corruption in the menu screens but the in-game
graphics are fine. No lock-ups or problems with anything else here. The
increased performance is worth a bit of menu problems in GPL for me, but
there is no need for it to be there if Asus would get off their behinds.
Marc.
> > Was wondering if anyone has downloaded and used these drivers?
Detonator
> > Drivers at Nvidia's site worth downloading? I have a Asus AGP-7700
> GeForce
> > 2 GTS 32mg. Thanks in advance.
> My Geforce runs most reliable with the Asus 5.33a drivers. I have tried
> higher versions, but experienced hangs with them, and GP3 fails to show
> certain bitmaps on them.
> This is in combination with an Asus A7V motherboard, Bios rev is 1007.
> Bioses below 1005 gave me hangups. 1005+ seems to handle 4x AGP with fast
> writes ok.
> Bart Westra
Here are some things you might consider.....these don't necessarily apply to
all three of you....but in some cases they do....
** Asus GF drivers: Asus is probably not upgrading their drivers because
few people actually use them. Most GF2 owners (or GF)...use the Nvidia
reference drivers.....ranging from the 5.xx series all the way up to the
10.xx series (last I checked). Creative, Elsa...do similarly.
** What Drivers To Use: This is not so much an issue of "choice" but one of
necessity. The driver choice is first dependent upon what version of DX you
have installed on your computer. That, in turn....is dependent upon what
"racing sims" you run...or have installed. If you have (for example)....
NASCAR 4 installed........then it **REQUIRES**....DX 8.0. Not all of the
Nvidia drivers will work properly with DX 8.0 (you get screen artifacts, UI
screen corruption, mouse weirdness....slow frames rates, hangs....etc.,
etc.).....so using the Nvidia reference drivers appropriate for the DX
version you have installed is the paramount "key" to smooth operation of
your video card(s).
** GF Video Cards...and your Motherboard: Of course...you should always
attempt to have the latest system BIOS installed on your motherboard.
But.....BUT....that is not the paramount thing you must watch and update on
your motherboard when referencing the video card. What is far more
important than your system BIOS...is the drivers for the "chip set" used by
your motherboard. Example: On an Asus A7V (Bart...this would apply to
you).....the VIA 4in1 Drivers...particularly important because of the
northbridge chip on that mobo....must be updated to the latest version from
VIATek. If you do not use the latest version......it doesn't matter what
BIOS version you use...you will have hangs and problems...and your GF card
will run slow. Other mobo's have similar issues. So....today, you need to
watch and update for BOTH system BIOS revisions....and chipset driver
revisions....staying current with both! Further as an example Bart....I run
the BIOS 1005 version on the A7V....but with the final release VIA "4 in 1"
drivers......my mobo/video card combo screams....with 3DMark2000 scores in
the low 9,000 range (top 1% of all computers in pure speed)...with no system
hangs...no "in-game" hangs at all. Its the chipset drivers that count
most...not the BIOS.
** Get a Reliable Benchmark....and Stick To It: I would suggest you find a
reliable 3D benchmarking system (I recommend the 3DMark2000 or
3DMark2001....if you have a GF3 card)....and install it and check it
carefully regularly. I run mine on my primary "racing box" computer once
every week. I do this to make sure that something hasn't changed
inadvertently...that has slowed down my system. Additionally, this becomes
an excellent "test bed" for checking out how new drivers (video, chipset,
mobo BIOS, etc) is working on my system......because all of these will have
effects on my computers speed in running 3D games! It is really important
for you to have something of a "nominal" benchmarking system so you can
evaluate changes you make to your computer......numerically. Relying on
plain "intuition"....just isn't very reliable. Also, within this
context....keep in mind that some video driver/mobo BIOS/chipset driver
versions......may run some "3D applications" better than others....and this
must be accounted for based on the primary "racing sim" or game you play.
For example....this is only an example......the Nvidia reference drivers
7.15 version worked really well...speed wise....but GPL didn't run as well
(slower, more screen artifacts). When I upgraded to the 7.19 drivers...my
3DMark2000 score dropped about 7%....but GPL ran better! So....GPL being my
primary racing sim at the time.......meant I kept the 7.19 drivers even
though technically, they were slower! See my point?
For all of you.....it might be useful to go through this check list
below......and make sure you have these items set as indicated. This setup
is for running NASCAR 4 on a GF2 video card...but the general principals
apply to many other types of GF cards (and some 3dfx cards too)...and other
racing sims. You might want to go get 3DMark2000 from MadOnion at:
http://www.madonion.com/entry.shtml (you won't need the newer version,
3DMark2001.....its for DX 8.0 and a GF-3 card)....and install it...run the
benchmark test in "default" mode....before making any changes below. Run it
a couple of times....average your score....and that serves as your starting
point. Then....make the BIOS changes....run the benchmark and check your
score.....make the video card "Advance" settings....run the
benchmark....etc., etc. I have gotten replies from some r.a.s. sim racers
who saw their benchmark scores double...or triple....from the original base
benchmark! That is not only remarkable....its better than buying a new
computer, huh?
GeForce 2 (MX, GTS, ULTRA) Tweaks and Settings for N4
Desktop Color: Set to 16-bit color for N4 and all games.
DirectX: Make sure you are using a DX 8.0 compatible driver (Nvidia Ref
drivers versions 7.0 or higher)
For N4: Run OpenGL (not D3D) in "XXXX"x16 (you must use a screen res
compatible with your CPU speed and ram).
Monitor: Make sure you have downloaded the latest drivers for your
monitor...DO NOT USE "Plug and Play" Monitor drivers! Set your refresh rate
at the highest setting you are allowed for your monitor at the specific
screen res you want to run N4 at.
Advanced Settings Tab For OpenGL:
In The Scroll Down Box:
Enable Buffer Region Extension (checked)
Allow the dual planes extension to us local video memory
(checked)
Use fast linear-mipmap-linear filtering (checked)
****all others are unchecked****
Default Color Depth for Textures: Always Use 16 bpp
Buffer Flipping Mode: Use page flip
Vertical sync: Always off
Full Scene Antialiasing Method: Always off
Use up to [62] MB of system memory for textures in PCI mode
Mother Board BIOS Settings:
Video BIOS Shadow = "Disabled"
Video BIOS Cache = "Disabled"
Palette Snoop = "Disabled"
AGP Turbo (or x4) = "Enabled" (if your mobo supports
it....disabled or 2x or 1x if it does not)
PnP Aware OS = "Yes"
AGP Aperture Size = 128 mb (only if you have 128 mb or
more...which you should)
Resources Controlled by = "Auto"
Assign IRQ to VGA = "Yes"
Good luck.....have fun with benchmarking and tweaking your systems.
Good racing,
Tom Pabst
Pabst-Racing
--
Some Call Me Tim
>I use the 6.50 nVIDEA drivers anyway, as they are better for everything I
>run except GPL--I get corruption in the menu screens but the in-game
>graphics are fine. No lock-ups or problems with anything else here. The
>increased performance is worth a bit of menu problems in GPL for me, but
>there is no need for it to be there if Asus would get off their behinds.
>Marc.
http://www.m3dzone.com/files.php?directory=Videocards/ASUS/Detonator/
Nascar Heat has a great benchmark util included in the game.
Marc.
> >Mine too (runs most reliably with the 5.33a), although it is outrageous
that
> >Asus hasn't updated their drivers to the Detonator 3 level. I already
> >avoided their motherboards and now I will surely never buy another video
> >card from them.
> >I use the 6.50 nVIDEA drivers anyway, as they are better for everything I
> >run except GPL--I get corruption in the menu screens but the in-game
> >graphics are fine. No lock-ups or problems with anything else here. The
> >increased performance is worth a bit of menu problems in GPL for me, but
> >there is no need for it to be there if Asus would get off their behinds.
> >Marc.
> You might want to try this guys hacked drivers. v10.80 Detonators with
> other stuff from the Asus drivers. I haven't tried them, but I'm about
> to in a minute. I'm using the Asus 6.31c drivers right now and GP3 is
> fine on them. Get the hacked ones here.
> http://www.m3dzone.com/files.php?directory=Videocards/ASUS/Detonator/
Thanks for your very elaborate answer :)
I ran 3DMark and got 5985. No idea if that is fast for an Athlon 800 /
Geforce2 GTS, but my games run fine, so I guess it's fast enough :)
This is with the latest 4in1 drivers from Via, AMD A7v bios 1007 and the
Asus 533a drivers for the V7700 GTS, W98 first edition and DX8a. I noticed
Asus withdrew their 6.31 drivers again from their site (at least for the
V7700 GTS).
I have gotten a little conservative as I had many problems with my system.
To name a few:
- could not run AGP 4x or fast writes
- system would boot twice in a row on occasion
- system would hang after boot showing little green lines at the top of the
screen
- lockups in 3D games (GPL and GP3)
- flashing menu's in GPL
The biggest improvement i noticed was when I changed the bios from 1004d to
1005. Must admit that I was a little behind with the Via drivers, I had used
the ones Asus had for download I think. The other improvement was to go away
from the NVidia reference driver to the Asus driver. That got rid of the
flashing menu's.
I just tried the 10.80 ref drivers, but then GP3 won't display the bitmaps
while loading a track, nor the closeby starting lights. Since I did not see
many improvements in other respects, I'm back at the 533 drivers for now.
The system is completely stable this way. And I run DX8 without problems. So
I'll stick with it for a while probably :)
Bart Westra
> Here are some things you might consider.....these don't necessarily apply
to
> all three of you....but in some cases they do....
> ** Asus GF drivers: Asus is probably not upgrading their drivers because
> few people actually use them. Most GF2 owners (or GF)...use the Nvidia
> reference drivers.....ranging from the 5.xx series all the way up to the
> 10.xx series (last I checked). Creative, Elsa...do similarly.
> ** What Drivers To Use: This is not so much an issue of "choice" but one
of
> necessity. The driver choice is first dependent upon what version of DX
you
> have installed on your computer. That, in turn....is dependent upon what
> "racing sims" you run...or have installed. If you have (for example)....
> NASCAR 4 installed........then it **REQUIRES**....DX 8.0. Not all of the
> Nvidia drivers will work properly with DX 8.0 (you get screen artifacts,
UI
> screen corruption, mouse weirdness....slow frames rates, hangs....etc.,
> etc.).....so using the Nvidia reference drivers appropriate for the DX
> version you have installed is the paramount "key" to smooth operation of
> your video card(s).
> ** GF Video Cards...and your Motherboard: Of course...you should always
> attempt to have the latest system BIOS installed on your motherboard.
> But.....BUT....that is not the paramount thing you must watch and update
on
> your motherboard when referencing the video card. What is far more
> important than your system BIOS...is the drivers for the "chip set" used
by
> your motherboard. Example: On an Asus A7V (Bart...this would apply to
> you).....the VIA 4in1 Drivers...particularly important because of the
> northbridge chip on that mobo....must be updated to the latest version
from
> VIATek. If you do not use the latest version......it doesn't matter what
> BIOS version you use...you will have hangs and problems...and your GF card
> will run slow. Other mobo's have similar issues. So....today, you need
to
> watch and update for BOTH system BIOS revisions....and chipset driver
> revisions....staying current with both! Further as an example Bart....I
run
> the BIOS 1005 version on the A7V....but with the final release VIA "4 in
1"
> drivers......my mobo/video card combo screams....with 3DMark2000 scores in
> the low 9,000 range (top 1% of all computers in pure speed)...with no
system
> hangs...no "in-game" hangs at all. Its the chipset drivers that count
> most...not the BIOS.
> ** Get a Reliable Benchmark....and Stick To It: I would suggest you find
a
> reliable 3D benchmarking system (I recommend the 3DMark2000 or
> 3DMark2001....if you have a GF3 card)....and install it and check it
> carefully regularly. I run mine on my primary "racing box" computer once
> every week. I do this to make sure that something hasn't changed
> inadvertently...that has slowed down my system. Additionally, this
becomes
> an excellent "test bed" for checking out how new drivers (video, chipset,
> mobo BIOS, etc) is working on my system......because all of these will
have
> effects on my computers speed in running 3D games! It is really important
> for you to have something of a "nominal" benchmarking system so you can
> evaluate changes you make to your computer......numerically. Relying on
> plain "intuition"....just isn't very reliable. Also, within this
> context....keep in mind that some video driver/mobo BIOS/chipset driver
> versions......may run some "3D applications" better than others....and
this
> must be accounted for based on the primary "racing sim" or game you play.
> For example....this is only an example......the Nvidia reference drivers
> 7.15 version worked really well...speed wise....but GPL didn't run as well
> (slower, more screen artifacts). When I upgraded to the 7.19 drivers...my
> 3DMark2000 score dropped about 7%....but GPL ran better! So....GPL being
my
> primary racing sim at the time.......meant I kept the 7.19 drivers even
> though technically, they were slower! See my point?
> For all of you.....it might be useful to go through this check list
> below......and make sure you have these items set as indicated. This
setup
> is for running NASCAR 4 on a GF2 video card...but the general principals
> apply to many other types of GF cards (and some 3dfx cards too)...and
other
> racing sims. You might want to go get 3DMark2000 from MadOnion at:
> http://www.madonion.com/entry.shtml (you won't need the newer version,
> 3DMark2001.....its for DX 8.0 and a GF-3 card)....and install it...run the
> benchmark test in "default" mode....before making any changes below. Run
it
> a couple of times....average your score....and that serves as your
starting
> point. Then....make the BIOS changes....run the benchmark and check your
> score.....make the video card "Advance" settings....run the
> benchmark....etc., etc. I have gotten replies from some r.a.s. sim racers
> who saw their benchmark scores double...or triple....from the original
base
> benchmark! That is not only remarkable....its better than buying a new
> computer, huh?
> GeForce 2 (MX, GTS, ULTRA) Tweaks and Settings for N4
> Desktop Color: Set to 16-bit color for N4 and all games.
> DirectX: Make sure you are using a DX 8.0 compatible driver (Nvidia Ref
> drivers versions 7.0 or higher)
> For N4: Run OpenGL (not D3D) in "XXXX"x16 (you must use a screen res
> compatible with your CPU speed and ram).
> Monitor: Make sure you have downloaded the latest drivers for your
> monitor...DO NOT USE "Plug and Play" Monitor drivers! Set your refresh
rate
> at the highest setting you are allowed for your monitor at the specific
> screen res you want to run N4 at.
> Advanced Settings Tab For OpenGL:
> In The Scroll Down Box:
> Enable Buffer Region Extension (checked)
> Allow the dual planes extension to us local video memory
> (checked)
> Use fast linear-mipmap-linear filtering (checked)
> ****all others are unchecked****
> Default Color Depth for Textures: Always Use 16 bpp
> Buffer Flipping Mode: Use page flip
> Vertical sync: Always off
> Full Scene Antialiasing Method: Always off
> Use up to [62] MB of system memory for textures in PCI mode
> Mother Board BIOS Settings:
> Video BIOS Shadow = "Disabled"
> Video BIOS Cache = "Disabled"
> Palette Snoop = "Disabled"
> AGP Turbo (or x4) = "Enabled" (if your mobo supports
> it....disabled or 2x or 1x if it does not)
> PnP Aware OS = "Yes"
> AGP Aperture Size = 128 mb (only if you have 128 mb or
> more...which you should)
> Resources Controlled by = "Auto"
> Assign IRQ to VGA = "Yes"
> Good luck.....have fun with benchmarking and tweaking your systems.
> Good racing,
> Tom Pabst
> Pabst-Racing
Latest Detonator 12 drivers work fine in GP3.
> >The biggest improvement i noticed was when I changed the bios from 1004d
to
> >1005. Must admit that I was a little behind with the Via drivers, I had
used
> >the ones Asus had for download I think. The other improvement was to go
away
> >from the NVidia reference driver to the Asus driver. That got rid of the
> >flashing menu's.
> >I just tried the 10.80 ref drivers, but then GP3 won't display the
bitmaps
> >while loading a track, nor the closeby starting lights. Since I did not
see
> >many improvements in other respects, I'm back at the 533 drivers for now.
> >The system is completely stable this way. And I run DX8 without problems.
So
> >I'll stick with it for a while probably :)
> Latest Detonator 12 drivers work fine in GP3.
Bart Westra
url for anyone who wants to try det 12:
http://www.m3dzone.com/files.php?directory=Videocards/NVIDIA/Drivers/
Keep an eye out for those Detonator 10.xx drivers. I tried the 10.50
drivers some time ago. Again slightly faster than the Asus drivers,
but the 10.50 drivers include 3d glasses support, allthough in a very
clumsy way. But as soon as the 3d glasses options of the 10.50 drivers
will be improved, these drivers could be the winner.
Andre
http://www2.elsa.de/Internet/Elsafilearea.nsf/allfiles?SearchView&Que...
file is: RVL_W9X.EXE
Will do, thanks for the tip!
Andre